Dangerous Elements
by Espio
Summary: Something strange is happening in Sunnydale, like always, and the Charmed Ones come to help. BuffyCharmed Crossover. Charmed S4, Buffy S6. Existing chapters have been rereviewed and slightly changed. More to come soon.
1. The Beginning

Title: Dangerous Elements

Author: Espio

Summary: There's a new power in town, but whose side are they on

Authors Note: This is actually my first piece of fan fic, so please go easy on me :).

Feedback: As long as it is good :). If you can think of a better title, tell me about it coz I suck at          this.

*Story Note: Set in Buffy season 6. Giles moved back to England permanently.  Also set in Charmed season 4. Prue is still dead*

Dangerous Elements: The Beginning

Wind whispered through the trees, on the deceivingly calm night, in the town of Sunnydale, as a dark silhouette moved across the pools of moonlight streaming through the trees. Despite it's cautious efforts to remain unseen, the figure did not go unnoticed.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The bell above the door clinked as Buffy Summers entered "The Magic Box". Approaching her friends, seated at the table situated towards the rear of the store, she thought to herself, pondering the mysterious figure she had seen moving through the cemetery.

 "Hey Buffy, what's up? Where's Dawn?" The cheerful voice of Willow Rosenburg chimed through the store.

"I'm here." Dawn announced as she entered the door sending the bell ringing again.

"What's wrong Buffy?" Tara asked, concerned by the troubled expression on Buffy's face.

"Oh. I was just thinking about something I saw last night on patrol." She replied distractedly.

"Want to tell us about it?"

"Huh? Oh," Buffy replied as she snapped out of her daze, "I saw some strange figure in the cemetery. It appeared to a cloaked figure of some kind."

"Could it have been one of Glory's leftover minions?" Xander asked with his hands clasped firmly around Anya's.

"No, I don't think so. It appeared smaller, younger and less demony."

"You think they may have been human?" Willow's pondered. Eyes wide suddenly, she asked, "Do you think they were looking for you?"

"It's possible. It's not like they were there looking for a reception desk," Buffy replied in a half serious tone.

"I think you should base patrol around that area tonight. See if you can find out more…" Willow began but was cut of as Tara toppled over clutching her stomach. Hastily she rushed to her girlfriend's aide as the pain subsided as fast as it began.

"I'm okay," Tara stated as she slowly rose.

"What happened?" Buffy asked concerned.

"There is some great power near by, but I can't tell if it is good or evil." She replied, grimacing at the last of the pain.

They all jumped startled as the bell above the door rang suddenly.

"Uh, is this a bad time?" Asked a teenage boy who hesitantly passed through the threshold of the store. He had dark blonde color hair, green eyes and about 6 feet tall. He appeared to be about Dawn's age.

"Aiden?" Dawn's voice came from the back of the group, "What are you doing here?"

"Um, I was curious. I have passed by this place many times and I wanted to find out what it was and... err...I saw you come in here so..." Aiden replied voice trailing off as he glanced at some of the items on the shelves. A look of confusion passed across is face. "What is this? Like some freaky hocus-pocus stuff?"

"The power I feel, it's coming from him," Tara whispered quietly to the group so that Dawn, who was arguing with her friend, didn't hear, "It's almost as strong as the power coming off of Dawn."

"I feel it too," Willow stated, "I mean, it's not as strong as what you feel but I can feel it. We need to find out more about this guy."

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Phoebe Halliwell gasped as a premonition over took her. It was much more intense then usual. Bordering on painful, as she struggled to keep standing.

 Above the images, sounds and feelings the premonition sent to her, she could hear her sisters, Piper and Paige coming to her side.

End of Part 1 

*I promise more parts will come soon and that they will be longer. This is just a sort of test to see how I go.


	2. Arrival

**Dangerous Elements: Arrival**

"Sunnydale," Phoebe's premonition ended suddenly. At her sisters puzzled looks she added, "We have to go to Sunnydale. I didn't see why but I got a feeling of a real need, and lots and lots of danger."

"Sunnydale. Sunnydale. Isn't that the place where the high school blew up a couple of years ago?" Paige asked. "'Cause if that's a regular occurrence, I say we stay here."

"Do you know when…whatever's going to happen will happen?" Piper quizzed her sister.

"No, so we have to leave now."

"What about our jobs? We can't just take off without any explanation at all." Paige added

"Do you have any holiday time or sick days?" Piper asked, helping Phoebe up from the floor where she had fallen.

"My holiday time," Paige complained, "I was planning to go away with that."

"It's not like you could anymore anyway." Phoebe stated.

Defeated, Paige sighed and called her boss. An hour later they were all packed and ready to go. Phoebe leading Piper, who was carrying their combined luggage, down the front steps. They loaded the luggage in the car and stepped back as Paige's luggage suddenly materialised in the trunk. They both turned at the sound of footsteps coming out of the house.

"Wahoo! Here we go!" Paige cheered.

"I thought you didn't want to go," Piper said, eyeing Paige.

"That, I was just playing the youngest child." Paige said grinning. "Now I can chant 'Are we there yet' and see how long you can hold out."

"That used to be my job." Phoebe grumbled. All three of the sisters burst out laughing as the car pulled away from the roadside.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Buffy shuddered as she patrolled the cemetery. It was really quiet, too quiet for a Sunnydale night. Something had been spooking the local demons and vampires. She had not found a vampire to slay for the past week. They had looked in Aiden's files and information and discovered he had arrived in town in the past week. She could not help but feel that they were connected.

A familiar growling sound distracted her from her thoughts. She ran in the direction of the sound and saw a vampire, attacking the robed figure from the night before. She was ready to jump into the middle when the robed figure lifted his hand up, palm facing the vampire. Buffy was as puzzled as the vampire, but jumped suddenly when fire shot from his palm, burning the screaming vampire to a pile of ashes.

"Who are you?" She called, approaching the startled robed person. The robed figure turned to look at her and her question was answered. She was about to ask another question when he suddenly turned and fled, leaving her standing there surprised. She made to chase him, but was bowled over by a sudden gust of wind from the direction he had run.

"AIDEN!" She called, but it was too late. He was gone.

She turned and raced back toward The Magic Box, ignoring a voice calling to her. She needed to get the gang on it as soon as possible.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The Halliwells, now in Sunnydale, pulled up outside one of the many cemeteries within the city limits. They sat there, absorbing the new atmosphere around them.

"Hey, what's that?" Paige asked, pointing toward a robed figure entering the cemetery.

"I don't know but maybe we should check it out." Piper replied thoughtfully.

The three sisters entered the cemetery where the robed figure had entered. After 5 minutes of wandering the cemetery, and Paige complaining about the eerie atmosphere, the found the robed figure. A blonde girl was approaching from behind him.

"Who are you?" The girl asked. As soon as the words left the girls mouth, had the figure turned in the opposite direction and ran. The girl began to run after the robed person but was suddenly thrown back 3 feet by a sudden, unexplained gust of wind. She sat up slowly, "AIDEN!"

The girl, still a little stunned, then got up and ran in the other direction, towards the main town area.

"Hey you!" Phoebe called after the girl, but was ignored as the girl fled into the shadows of the night.

"Come on." Piper said, tiredly, "Let's find a place to stay."

The three witches got back in their car; unaware that someone nearby was watching them.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Buffy, with her legs on the table, leaned back and yawned loudly. At the dark glare from Willow, she put her feet down and went back to reading the book she was holding.

"Can I go patrol? This is so really dull." She looked pleadingly at Willow.

"Buffy, it's 9am. I don't think that there will be any vampires wandering the streets." Willow replied.

"But this is dull. We're not going to find anything anyway." Buffy stated, trying to get Willow to give in and let her go.

"Well we have to research. I don't think we will find anything either but we should look anyway." Willow told Buffy, shooting down any hopes Buffy had of getting out of research.

"What about Xander? Why isn't he here to research? Or even Spike! Come one Will, I am not the bookish kind of person. I need to go do something." Buffy complained.

"Xander is working and it is daytime so no Spike," Willow replied as the bell chimed.

"Well can't he just throw on his blanket and run here? I mean, if he bursts into flames at least then he'd be out of our hair." Buffy said rocking slightly in her chair.

Both girls turned at the sound of the bell above the door to see who entered, Buffy hoping it was someone to come take over the research so she could get out of there. Three women entered. They all looked similar so Willow gathered they were sisters. When the three sisters eyes fell onto Buffy, they froze.

"You. We saw you last night." One of them said.

"Excuse me, but who are you and were you following me?" Buffy asked as politely as possible, while itching for a good fight.

"I'm Piper. Piper Halliwell and these are my sisters, Phoebe and Paige." She replied indicating to the other two.

"Halliwell?" Willow gasped. Buffy turned to look at her puzzled, "The Charmed Ones, the three most powerful witches, of the non-evil variety, in the world."

"You've heard of us?" Paige asked.

"I've read about you, or at least the legend of The Charmed Ones, in only a thousand books! I have wanted to meet you since the first time I read about you." Willow exclaimed, her attitude near ecstatic. "I also went looking on the net to find some information about you. The most I found was your names."

"Wow." Paige said, shocked. "We're on the net!" Then she turned to her sisters with a puzzled expression, "I thought no one was supposed to know about us."

"Willow's a super-hacker." Buffy said in response to Paige's confusion.

"I hacked into the San Francisco Police Department computers once, investigating vampire attacks. Someone had a file on you locked away deep in the system." She explained, "But I thought the third sister's name was Prue." Willow stated, quizzically. At the look of the three, she realised, "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't realise."

"It's okay. We have to face it sooner or later." Phoebe assured Willow. She turned to Buffy "As Piper said when we entered, we saw you last night, in the cemetery. You were approaching a robed person, and then you went to chase him and you were thrown back by something. We called out for you but you didn't hear us or ignored us."

"I didn't hear you. I was running back here." Buffy informed them, "You do know it's not such a good idea to wander around Sunnydale cemeteries at night, don't you?"

"Because of the Hellmouth? Yes, found out that before we left." Piper told her, then asked, "What were you doing out at night if you know it's not such a good idea?"

"It's my job. I hunt the things that make Sunnydale not such a nice place." Buffy simply stated.

"You're the Slayer?" Paige asked, at her sister's confused looks she added, "I read about it in the Book of Shadows before we left."

"What are you?" Phoebe asked Willow.

"Me? I'm a witch. I can't do very much but I can do some things. Like floating something. That comes in handy when helping Buffy. My girlfriend is also a witch." Willow stated proudly.

Paige suddenly jumped and whirled towards the door. "Do you feel that?" She asked.

"Feel what?" Phoebe asked concerned.

"Something very strong." Paige replied, "I don't know what it is."

The door opened to reveal Dawn and Aiden walking in the shop.

"It's okay." Buffy told them, "It's just my sister and a friend."

Everyone seemed to relax a little, everyone except Buffy, Willow and Paige.

End of Part 2.

Ok I realise this isn't longer like I said it would be but at least you get more frequent updates.


	3. Suspicions

Dangerous Elements:  Suspicions 

After Dawn had taken Aiden out back for study, the conversation resumed. Buffy looked towards Willow. He mustn't have known it was her he had seen him in the cemetery; after all it was quite dark. She returned her attention to the others.

"What did you feel?" Piper asked Paige.

"Umm, nothing." Paige replied trying to hide the knowledge she held from being exposed.

Unknown to the 3 sisters, Willow and Buffy exchanged a glance. They both knew Paige was hiding something.

"Well, I guess _I_ will just have to research." Buffy sighed and sat down, not taking her eye off Paige. She hoped Willow would realise what she wanted her to do.

Noticing Buffy's glance at her, Willow turned to the 3 sisters, "Hey, come on. I'll show you around town."

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Meanwhile, below the town of Sunnydale, in one of the many caves, a dark figure lurked.

"They are getting too close," The dark figures voice, roared through the caves to the vampire minions crowded into the small cavern, "The Charmed Ones must not get their hands on the Connector. The equilibrium is beginning to falter. The connection is volatile. We must not let them get it."

"What about the Slayer, what if she gets it?" The terrified minion stepped forward.

"What about it?" Growled the figure.

"Well if The Key and The Connector were to combine, the balance of power will be thrown out." The minion explained, "It would stabilise the connection between the Charmed Ones and it is rumoured to have some sort of effect on the Slayer or something."

"Well we will just have to make sure that won't happen then." Losing patients, the figure grabbed the minion, "GO, kill the Slayer and her friends and bring me the Charmed Ones. NOW!"

The vampires hurriedly scampered out of the cave.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

That evening, found Buffy, Xander, Willow, Tara and Anya, in Xander and Anya's apartment. There was a discussion, becoming argument, over their next action.

"We need to confront him." Buffy insisted.

"There has to be a more subtle approach then walking up to him and asking, 'Hey, what are you?'" Anya argued.

"Since when are you anyone to talk about subtlety?" Buffy shot back.

"Buffy," Xander glaring at Buffy warningly, "Anya is right. You can't just go up to someone and interrogate them."

"I can try." Buffy stated as she attempted to barge past Xander.

"Stop." Tara stated, holding up her hand, her words quiet but full of power. Buffy stopped as though she had hit a wall.

"Buffy," Willow met Buffy's eyes, "You are not going to confront him, not just yet. We need to research more."

"But…" Buffy started but was cut off.

"We will _all _look through the books at The Magic Box and we will look for any prophecies involving someone with power over the elements and the Charmed Ones." Willow ordered with her voice full of authority, "Since we know to look for those things, we can probably work this out fast but we will all be required."

Defeated and unable to challenge Willow, Buffy sat down and waited for a plan.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The three sisters meanwhile were cruising around Sunnydale. It was just getting dark. Piper stared at the road ahead, Phoebe sat talking her thoughts to no one in particular, and Paige sat looking out the window deep in thought.

"There is something weird about those people," Phoebe thought out loud, "I can feel it."

"You say that all the time," Piper replied.

"No I don't," Phoebe glared at her older sister, "That's Paige."

"Hey!" Paige growled, distracted but broken out of her thoughts at the sound of her name.

"You have been really quiet since we visited that shop. What's on your mind?" Piper asked Paige worriedly.

"Oh, I was just thinking." Paige replied vaguely.

"About?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh, it's nothing." Paige said dismissively.

"All right…" Piper said, looking worriedly at her sister.

Piper still looking back at Paige did not see someone run out on the road in front of the car.

"PIPER, LOOK OUT!" Phoebe shouted seeing the person run out onto the road.

Piper slammed the brakes. They were not going too fast but still they hit the person anyway.

As the car skidded to a halt, the limp figure of the person they hit, slid off to the ground.

"Oh my god!" Paige yelled.

"Calm down." Piper insisted.

All three got out of the car and ran over to the person they hit. Piper checked the woman, while Paige paced back and forwards in a panic.

"She's alive but hurt," Piper announced. She stood up, and began calling, "LEO!"

"She was in quite a hurry," Phoebe thought, "Where was she running to?"

"I think you should be more worried about what she was runnin' from." A new voice interrupted. The blonde vampire known as Spike stood leaning against a light post. At the accusing glares, "Ay, not from me!"

"From me," A new person approached growling.

All three sisters whirled around quickly at the sound of the voice.

"Vampire," Piper yelped seeing the male vampire standing before them.

The vampire suddenly lunged at Paige. She screamed and suddenly orbed, leaving the confused vampire standing where she was previously. She re-appeared behind, and after a moments hesitation, kicked him from behind as hard as she could. Phoebe then took the opportunity to levitate and kick the dazed vampire in the head. She landed, but suddenly realised the vampire towering over her. Surprise Phoebe gasped, the attempted to kick him again. He effortlessly grabbed her leg and threw her into a tree. There was a sickening crunch sound as Phoebe hit the tree.

"LEO!" Paige screamed, and was then thrown backwards onto the car.

The vampire then turned and began stalking towards Piper. Piper yelled in surprise as he lunged at her. She ducked under the vampire's arms, but tripped, landing on the ground. The vampire leaned down to grab her. Piper raised her arms in reflex, closing her eyes. She opened them again at the agonized scream of the vampire as he exploded in a cloud of dust. Realising what she did, she sighed in relief. She glanced towards the car to see Paige slowly rising, and then she walked over towards where Phoebe lay unconscious on the ground. She called for Leo again, then crouched near Phoebe as he materialised in front of them. Without a word he bent down to heal Phoebe then glanced around. He noticed the woman in front of the car and moved off to heal her.

"Wow." Piper looked up at the sound of a stunned Buffy's voice, "You exploded the vampire."

"Yes, it's one of my powers." Piper stated to Buffy, distracted as she helped her now conscious sister up off the ground.

"Nice trick." Spike said, looking Piper over appreciatively.

"Spike..." Buffy said warningly.

"Getting' a little jealous there Slayer?" Spike attempted to provoke a reaction from her.

"You wish, Spike." Buffy glared back at him.

"Ouch…" Phoebe moaned as she rose. Looking over at Spike, she studied him. There was something off about him, "Besides, Pipers married. Tough luck blondie."

"Come back to The Magic Box. I think we may need to talk some more." Buffy suggested as she walked over to help a limping Paige as Leo healed her. Then she glared at Spike, "Spike, what are you doing here? You should be with Dawn."

"Left the bit at the magic shop with the witches." Spike stated nonchalantly, before heading off to his crypt. 

They told the woman they accidentally hit that she had passed out while running from a mugger. They offered her a lift home, but she informed them her house was only a block or two away. They then made their way back to the now dinted car and began to head back to the store.

"You can't heal cars by any chance can you Leo?" Piper asked of her husband as they drove off.

End of part 3

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

*Well here's part 3 for you. I know it may have taken a while but I have been busy with schoolwork. Part 4 will be coming soon :).


	4. First Strike

Dangerous Elements: The First Strike 

Willow, Tara and Xander sat around the table, at the magic shop, researching the recent questions that had come up, while waiting for Buffy's 10:00 check in. All three glanced up at Anya's sudden cheer, from over at the cash register. Anya returned the looks of the other three with a puzzled expression, then realising why they were looking explained.

"There was a 2% increase in profit this month." She stated, grinning happily. The other three rolled their eyes then returned to their books.

All looked up again as the bell above the door shrilly announced the entrance of another person.

"It's just me." Dawn stated as she crossed the threshold into the store, returning from her visit to the cinema.

"You were walking around at night time by yourself?" Willow asked worriedly.

"I'm not a baby," Dawn snapped back annoyed. "I can take care of myself, and anyway I wasn't alone. I walked with Spike."

"Sorry, it's just you shouldn't be wandering at night no matter how prepared you think you are." Willow apologised.

"Buffy's not back yet?" Dawn asked.

"No, but it's not…." Tara cut off mid sentence, "Well actually it's past 10. Do you thing she may have run into some trouble?"

"It's possible." Willow replied approaching the front window.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

"Can this thing go any faster?" Buffy called desperately from the back seat of the Halliwells hired car.

A gang of 20 vampires sprinted along behind them. Buffy looked back puzzled and worried at the same time. Why were the vampires able to keep up so well? Even she couldn't run that fast and she was the slayer, stronger and faster then any vampire normally would be.

"They must be using some sort of spell." Phoebe suggested almost as though she had read Buffy's mind.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Standing at the front window of the shop, Willow stared out into the night lost in thought. A thought struck her. Why was it so quiet tonight when on a normal Sunnydale night you would at least see some stupid person or vampire pretending to be some stupid person wandering the night, but tonight nothing? It had been already unnaturally quiet anyway but now, it was almost as though all of the vampires and demons were somewhere else. Unless they were lying in wait for the right time to… Sudden panic washed over her as she caught sight of something in the corner of her eye.

"EVERYBODY DUCK!!" She yelled desperately while diving for shelter under the nearby desk.

Suddenly there was the sound of glass shattering and bullets ricocheting as the vampires on the street fired their weapons at the shop hoping to be lucky enough to kill all the humans cowering inside.

Xander, Anya, Dawn and Tara all dove for cover at Willows desperate cry. Tara dove for the sales desk but before she could clear the desk she felt the sudden unbearable pain piercing her right arm. She fell to the floor with a loud pain filled cry. Willow's head shot up desperately searching at the sound of her girlfriends cry. 'Tara!' she thought desperately trying to think of a way to reach her. Taking a few deep breaths she focused and begun chanting the barrier spell which they had used to hold of the knights and Glory, not that it worked well against Glory but perhaps it would against some trigger happy vampires.

Once the barrier was in place she dashed to Tara's aide. Xander moved towards them and begun checking Tara's arm. The barrier didn't hold out very long and it collapsed.

"It's not too deep but she will be alright once we stop the bleeding. It must have been a ricochet." He shouted over the noise, attempting to comfort both Willow and Tara. "We should get her to a hospital."

"I'll be OK for now. Find Dawn." Tara said, grimacing.

Dawn was with Anya behind the tipped table, using it for protection. She screamed, as a hole appeared where a bullet hit, right next to her head.

"Get down as low as you can." Anya told her. "The bullets could still come through the table and if we get low enough we can get out of the direct fire."

Anya covered Dawn as the glass cabinet nearby shattered and rained glass pieces all over them. She looked around for more suitable cover but could find none within a safe distance. She glanced over to the main counter. She couldn't see the others. Then Xander glanced around the edge of the counter and she sighed in relief.

"Are you and Dawn alright?" He mouthed to her, because even if he shouted, she would never hear him over the sounds of the guns and ricochets.

Anya nodded and mouthed a frightened "Yes".

Suddenly the barrage of bullets stopped. Xander dared to stand and look at why they stopped. He could see a car outside and a group of people fighting with the vampires. Suddenly a vampire came jumping through the window and running right at him. He put his arms up ready to fight when the vampire stopped right in front of him then exploded with a blast of heat. The dust settled to reveal Piper standing with her hands in a ready position. He heaved a sigh in relief.

"OH!" Anya shouted, alarmed. Everyone tensed up again, expecting the worst. Running over to the cash register Anya quickly opened it and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god they didn't hurt the money."

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The battle ended as soon as it had begun, but that was just the first wave. There would be more to come. Even worse would be done. The gang all knew this and they sat on what was left of the chairs discussing the events that had occurred. 

"We were being chased by like, a thousand vampires." Phoebe paused at the looks of the others, "Well actual more like a hundred." Another pause, more looks, "Actually about 20, but Piper got into the back and like, explodes one and he falls tripping the one behind and they are all bursting into flames in one big wave. It would have been fun if it wasn't so scary."

Anya meanwhile was rushing back and forwards attempting to clean up, muttering something under her breath about having to spend the money.

Willow and Tara were sitting over with Leo as he healed Tara's arm.

Dawn sat and stared at the floor in silence.

Xander had fallen asleep.

Piper was examining a magic book with bullet holes all through it.

Phoebe was babbling about the night's events.

Paige was just sitting, watching Anya rush about, and thinking about things.

Buffy was looking around as though expecting another attack.

Suddenly Xander's chair gave way and he fell to the floor, suddenly shaken into awareness. The group stared at him for a minute, just thinking, and then they all started laughing. 

Meanwhile, on the street, two demons stared in through the smashed window before disappearing, dreading what they would tell their master.

TBC… 

Mmm-tasty reviews. Need reviews!


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